


Hitch

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coulson is adorable, Coulson thinks Skye is the best thing since sliced bread, F/M, Gen, Hitchcock, I keep stealing tags :), Movie Night, Nouvelle Vague, Post Jiaying, Post-Season/Series 02, Prompt Fic, Rear Window, The Playground, also featuring: the Playground's kitchen, skoulsonfest2k15redux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 07:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4383026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Movie night with Mack and Skye turns into movie night with (loudly snoring) Mack, Coulson and Skye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hitch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RosePark15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosePark15/gifts).



> Parts of this could pass a crack!fic test, I guess. 
> 
> Written for the skoulsonfest2k15 redux, day 4 (July 23rd).
> 
> Prompt:  
> [MOVIE NIGHT]
> 
> For RosaleeDonovan, whose presence in the fandom I dearly miss.

Skye’s anticipated his showing up. Normally, it’s in the Playground’s kitchen that they bump into each other at this time of night, getting a glass of something or the other, but she’s sitting on the couch around the corner, watching a 1960s French film with Mack. She hears Coulson rummage around in the fridge a little bit (Hunter keeps stuffing the thing with weird diet things: Brussels sprouts, low-fat yogurt, low carb this, low carb that, so she figures he’s looking for the milk at the moment). The guy on the screen has blue paint all over his face now, and she knows what to expect. 

The plan was to introduce Mack to the Wonderful World of French Nouvelle Vague, but he keeps falling asleep after half an hour or so, no matter if it’s Godard or Truffaut or Malle or Resnais they watch. So at the moment, she’s kind of half-heartedly watching Belmondo running around to Mack’s rhythmical snoring. Skye wonders who’d stay awake with her during films of this genre (she’s tried Jemma, who’s still apologizing every now and then, Bobbi, who normally changes the DVD to some BBC literature movie as soon as she gets drowsy, and Fitz, who always tries his hardest to stay awake but gives himself away by asking innocent questions somewhere towards the end).  
Coulson’s still rummaging around. She’s kind of surprised that he’s up and about – it’s, like, five in the morning (Mack and her have made their way through two Hitchcocks and a Kurosawa first). Skye mutes the TV and gets up slowly, careful not to startle Mack, even though he’s pretty much out as a light. Tiptoeing across the corridor towards the kitchen, she wonders what she’s even doing, but she still hears sounds coming from inside the fridge, so she figures Coulson might need some help.

“Hey,” she half-whispers. “Everything alright?”  
He turns around, looking pretty annoyed.  
“Yeah, it’s just – this _crap_ Hunter keeps buying. Can’t even find the milk under all this … vegetation.” He gestures around and she immediately understands that this is not just about Hunter’s latest weird diet, it’s about Coulson not really being used to do everything with just one hand yet. He probably won’t really have to learn it, though – he’s already wearing the prosthesis Fitz designed with Banner’s help, his left arm in a sort of fluffy bandage.  
“I wonder if this stuff is actually from our planet. I mean, look at this,” she mutters, waving some kind of long, pinkish vegetable one of her foster mothers used to bake cakes with. Coulson chuckles, then just stuffs everything back inside and closes the fridge.  
“Forget about the milk,” he smirks. “What are you drinking?”  
She glances at the clock; 5:30. “Depends,” she says. “Are you planning on sleeping any after this?”  
Coulson feels a shiver going down his spine at the smile on her face, then just shakes his head a little. “Not really. I mean, not that we get to see any of it _down here in the mines_ , but the sun must be out already, so – yeah, no.”  
They exchange a small grin.  
“Coke?,” Skye suggests, mimicking her best Sister-Temperance-but-it-was-just-one-glass cutie face.  
He gives in instantaneously, and she almost feels a little guilty.

Mack’s still snoring fortissimo, so Skye’s not that careful moving around the couch anymore. She gestures for Coulson to make himself comfortable. _Pierrot le fou_ is over, so she tiptoes over to the player to almost lovingly put the DVD back inside its cover.  
“What do you feel up to?,” she whispers.  
He shrugs. “What have you two been watching before the Godard?”  
Skye grins. “ _The Paradine Case_ , then _Notorious_ and that one Kurosawa about the lonely samurai, I think it’s called –“  
“Sanjuro?,” he whispers.  
She nods enthusiastically, like a little girl.  
“What about another Hitchcock?,” he suggests after a minute, still whispering.  
“Yeah, sure,” she whispers, giggling a little at the comedy of the couch situation: Mack’s limbs are pretty much spread everywhere, his head awkwardly positioned on one of Simmons’ dotted pillows, and Coulson is more or less crouching in a corner of the couch, his legs pulled up. He follows her eyes, then chuckles, too.  
Skye picks _Rear Window_ , a movie she knows Coulson to appreciate, and his happy smile and nod when she waves the DVD at him aren’t lost on her. There is a small awkward moment as Skye’s scanning the area for a place to sit, and Coulson’s about to offer her his spot, but she just sits down on the carpeted floor, leaning against the couch’s side next to Coulson’s right arm. It’s weird, watching a Hitchcock with your boss at dawn, both wearing pajamas, sharing a small bottle of coke. 

The movie is intriguing enough – it’s secretly Skye’s favourite Hitchcock –, so there’s not much talking or anything happening as they’re watching. The only thing interrupting scenes are their synchronized chuckles, causing them to exchange a sort of shy smile every time it happens. Also, they both happen to point at Hitch’s cameo inside the composer’s flat, trying to show it to the other, then giggling a little at their choreographed moves.  
Coulson breaks the silence during the closing shot.  
“I think I’ve seen you hack like this,” he smirks. She looks up at him from the floor next to the couch, frowning a little. “What do you mean?  
His voice is warm. “You’re a little like Lisa. I mean, she’s officially reading this book about the Himalayas, then as soon as he’s asleep, it’s the VOGUE.”  
She grins. “What makes you say I have been doing anything similar?”  
Their eyes meet, and Skye admits it’s a little electrifying.

“Back when S.H.I.E.L.D. had just picked you up, you still continued your podcasts for a while after beginning to work for us. Don’t get me wrong, you did excellent work, but I knew that as soon as I’d left the room, you’d go on writing drafts for the next podcast.”  
She feels a little small and speechless. “How would you know? How did you guess, I mean –“  
He smiles. “I listened to the podcasts.”  
That’s unexpected.  
“You – you listened to my podcasts.”  
“Yeah. All of them, in fact.” He lowers his feet on the carpet, Skye suddenly focusing on his toes, trying not to make eye contact.  
“I’m – I’m surprised.”  
“Don’t worry. I liked what I heard.”  
“… Yeah?” She’s still looking at his feet until he notices, then wiggles his toes, sending her into a half-muted laughing fit, Skye pressing her hand against her mouth, small wrinkles around her twinkling eyes. He joins her immediately, another slight shiver running down his spine. Mack’s snoring is still by far louder.  
“I’ll have you know,” she giggles, “I’ve still done the occasional podcast. Now and then.”  
“I know.” His expression grows serious; not strict, just honest. Her giggling is gone, too.  
“Maybe you could help me with it, the next time?,” she offers, shyly.  
Their eyes meet again.  
Coulson produces a cautious half-smile. “Sure. If you’d want me to. But I’ve always liked the way you addressed things when broadcasting.”  
Her smile is wide now. “Thank you.”

She stands up, stretching her legs a little, accidentally brushing Coulson’s hand since he’s been kind of hugging the couch’s side. It’s not even that easy to pretend nothing happened. Walking over to the DVD player, she can feel his eyes between her shoulders. He doesn’t really dare to move – not because of Mack, the guy probably wouldn’t even flinch at a missile attack right now, but for fear of startling Skye.  
Returning from the movie shelf, she tousles her hair a little, yawning. She’s not sure when it became totally okay to walk around in her pajamas around her boss, hair a mess, barefoot, but it’s giving her an unfamiliarly nice feeling of a nest. 

“Thanks for the coke,” she half-jokes.  
He smiles, and there’s this tiny shot of electricity again. “Sleep well, Skye.”  
“Yeah, you too,” she whispers. “Don’t go watching the neighbours,” she adds, pointing at his bandaged arm.  
He chuckles, and it’s kind of adorable how the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t really capable of suppressing giggles. “See you tomorrow, Miss Fremont,” he half-whispers, still visibly amused. Skye thinks he looks so unusually fluffy and vulnerable that she briefly kisses him on the cheek before tiptoeing to her bunk.

When May comes walking down the corridor less than five minutes later, there’s still a huge, somewhat stupid smile on Coulson’s face.  
“Morning, Phil. Had a good time? You two?” She’s gesturing towards Mack.  
Coulson’s not really able to wipe the smirk from his face. “Uh, yeah. He’s always suggesting Hitchcock, then falls asleep.”  
May looks at him like she’s not-buying-it-in-a-billion-years, but there’s the trace of a benevolent grin somewhere around her lips.  
“Black coffee?,” she asks before turning around to enter the kitchen.  
“Yes, please,” he replies, the smile still there.

He’s kind of slow getting up from the couch, his limbs feeling a little compressed from all the sitting. May’s activated the coffee machine, and Coulson kind of expects Mack to jolt awake, but nothing happens, so he inspects the DVD shelf. When the coffee sounds are over and he turns back around, Mack’s vanished. Before he can grasp what happened exactly, he hears May holler from the kitchen, her voice unusually chirpy.  
“Get over here, Jimmy Stewart, while your coffee’s still hot.”  
He smirks.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! :)
> 
> For those who haven't seen _Rear Window_ [*movie spoilers ahead*]:  
>  It's about a photographer with a broken leg, who's so bored that he starts watching his neighbours' windows across the courtyard. Together with his girlfriend Lisa Fremont, they discover and solve a murder that's happened in the neighbourhood. Lisa keeps reprimanding her boyfriend for surveilling everything around him. In the final scene, we see him with two broken legs (the murderer pushed him out of the window), finally asleep. Lisa sits next to him, reading about the Himalayas (because that's where he wants to go for a job), then switching to the VOGUE magazine (because she's kind of a fashion icon). :)


End file.
